Auditory Evoked Potentials in Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

The pathophysiology of anxiety has received much recent attention. EEG findings in anxiety are nonspecific, and some changes in psychophysiological measures have been reported. We recorded short-latency brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) and long-latency auditory event-related potentials (AEPs) in 12 patients with generalized anxiety disorder. All 12 patients had BAEP latencies within clinical norms, but I-V interpeak latencies were significantly longer in patients with anxiety than controls. N1, N2, P2, and P3 AEP components were within normal limits; N1 and P2 were reduced in amplitude in anxiety patients, but differences from controls were not significant. The BAEP findings may suggest altered brain-stem function in anxiety, which has been implied by biochemical studies of anxiety and depression. AEP differences may be related to difficulties in concentration and attention direction reported by anxious patients.

Brain Response to Unexpected Novel Noises in Children with Low and High Trait Anxiety

“…N1 amplitude is nevertheless increased in adults with panic disorder (Iwanami, Isono, Okajima, & Kamijima, 1997;Knott, Lapierre, Fraser, & Johnson, 1991), although studies of adults with generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia have also reported decreased N1 amplitude (Sachs et al, 2004;Drake, Pakalnis, Phillips, Padamadan, & Hietter, 1991). A modulating effect of anxiety on the no-go-related N1 component has been described in children (Baving, Rellum, Laucht, & Schmidt, 2004; see also Lewis & Stieben, 2004).…”

“…The deviant P3 component is influenced by anxiety in adults (Drake et al, 1991) and its topography is atypical in anxious children (Daruna, Rau, & Strecker, 1991). In the active auditory oddball study by Daruna et al (1991), typically developing children were divided into low and high trait anxiety groups based on scores obtained from the Conners Behavior Rating Scale.…”

Neural correlates of suspiciousness and interactions with anxiety during emotional and neutral word processing

“…As psychophysiological research has supported psychometric distinctions between two dimensions of anxiety (e.g., Nitschke et al, 2001), anxious apprehension (worry, a major component of GAD) and anxious arousal (fear or somatic anxiety, a component of panic disorder and phobias), lateralization and time course of activity could be affected by the relationship of suspiciousness to each of these dimensions. Anxious apprehension or worry is associated with more left than right prefrontal activity (Heller et al, 1997; Engels et al, 2007, 2010; Mathersul et al, 2008), and there is mixed evidence for an association between apprehension and enhanced early sensory processing of emotional stimuli (e.g., Drake et al, 1991; Turan et al, 2002; Li et al, 2007; Sass et al, 2010). In contrast, anxious arousal is associated with more right than left prefrontal activity (Nitschke et al, 1999; Mathersul et al, 2008), increased right-posterior activity (e.g., Heller and Nitschke, 1998; Engels et al, 2007, 2010), and enhanced early processing (larger amplitude and shorter latency of P200; Yee and Miller, 1988; Hanatani et al, 2005; Pauli et al, 2005).…”

Time course of processing emotional stimuli as a function of perceived emotional intelligence, anxiety, and depression.

“…On the other hand, there is mixed evidence for an association between trait anxiety or disorders characterized by elevated apprehension (e.g., generalized anxiety disorder) and enhanced early sensory processing of emotional stimuli, with some studies finding evidence for it (e.g., Sass et al, in press) and others studies either not finding evidence (Drake et al, 1991; Turan et al, 2002) or finding a combination of early and later preferential processing of emotional stimuli (e.g., Li et al, 2007). For example, P100 is modulated by emotional stimuli (Fox, Derakshan, & Shoker, 2008; Holmes, Nielsen, & Green, 2008; Li, Li, & Luo, 2005), but evidence for its association with trait anxiety is mixed.…”